My New Year's Resolution in 2012 was to be a better, more confident cook . I hoped to use this blog to chronicle my culinary adventures (and misadventures). Ever since, I have been hooked, and the kitchen is my happy place! I have also become a vegetarian in that time. I may cook some weird things, but they're really good! Trust the vegetarian, okay?

Recipe Index

Monday, April 22, 2013

Raspberry Chocolate Coffee Cake

It's crazy and kind of sad that I am just getting around to this post now, over a week after I made the cake. Today was my first day back to work after April vacation (a very sad and stressful vacation, mind you; love you, Boston), and I made this cake on the Friday night that vacation started! Such different feelings between that night and now! Back then, I was ready for a week off, I was excited and energized and not yet scared of terrorists in my state. Just over a week later, and so much has gone on in Boston, and I'm back at work and feeling just as exhausted - if not more - than when I started. Argh. 9 more weeks.

Anyway, Kenzie had a friend from grad school over for dinner and Mark and I went to get pizza, so I figured I would take care of dessert with something I had pinned and wanted to try out for a while: raspberry chocolate coffee cake. I thought my mom in particular would like it since she likes raspberry, chocolate, and cake. So I gave it a try.
It was pretty easy to put together; you layer streusel between layers of vanilla cake studded with raspberries and chocolate chips, and sprinkle more streusel on top.

My house smelled like a bakery while this thing was in the oven; I don't know if it's the streusel made from almonds and sugar and butter, or the raspberries, or the chocolate chips (the recipe calls for dark but I just had milk chocolate and all was well), or the vanilla cake itself- but it smelled great. For me, it took closer to an hour to bake completely, and then I let it cool for a while, but once it was time to eat, everyone was happy with it. Mom, Kenzie and her friend all seemed to like it (and so did Neel when I gave him a leftover piece). I will warn you: this is not a cake that lasts well. By the next day it was already kind of wet and gummy; you definitely want to keep it as airtight as possible - or just eat it all in one day!

1) Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 8 or 9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.2) Make the streusel first by gently mashing up 3 tablespoons of cold butter in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup sugar and mix around with a fork. You want it to be chunky and crumbly. Add the almonds. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl with a handheld or stand mixer, add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, and egg. Beat on low until everything is sufficiently combined - about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not over-mix.

4) Spread half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Layer with half of the streusel, then most of the raspberries and chocolate chips. Repeat with the rest of the batter and the streusel. Top with remaining raspberries and chocolate chips.

5) Bake for 45-50 minutes, covered. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cake is best enjoyed on the same day. Cake stays fresh stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days.